The BBC trust has launched its own 12 week long consultation process to agree any additional guidelines before the rival campaigns are officially launched.

This follows accusations that Newsnight Scotland has shown a pro-independence bias, although this has been vehemently denied.

A spokesperson said the new guidelines would cover all referendum reporting during the formal campaign.

“They are intended to offer a framework within which BBC journalists and content producers can deliver impartial and independent reporting, providing audiences with fair coverage and rigorous scrutiny of the policies and campaigns of all relevant parties and campaign groups.

“The Trust is inviting views from campaigning bodies, political parties and relevant organisations to the referendum debate, as well as members of the public.”

The trust wants to know whether their guidelines are relevant and appropriate for the referendum plan.

In particular they want to know if there are any omissions from the proposals.

More information on the planned referendum coverage can be viewed here.

The BBC trust said they would consider all the submissions before finalising the guidelines in March 2014.